Prebble strikes more than once with his skills using the persuader

Date: November 08 2012

Chris Roots

MELBOURNE CUP-winning jockey Brett Prebble picked up a Wirth's gold whip on Wednesday for his efforts on Green Moon and his first question was "who made this?"

The champion jockey has a thriving business away from the track called Persuader, which makes racing gear for top hoops around the world. On Cup day, Frankie Dettori made an urgent call to Prebble to buy a saddle, boots and a whip when his gear was lost in transit from the US.

"His gear arrived and he gave me the boots back," Prebble said.

Wirth's whip is a tradition dating to 1888 but for the man who crafts the whips for his colleagues around the world, it held more significance.

"I'm very passionate about it," said Prebble, who makes whips in Hong Kong. ''The majority of jockeys around the world, with the exception of America, would use my whip.

"I actually hand-make the top jockeys' whips, they are quite fussy and I like to make as close to what they want as possible. It is very satisfying and something I will continued after I finish riding."

Prebble had made the whips for successful Cup jockeys for the past decade since setting up his business and is delighted to join the club as a Cup winner himself. Based in Hong Kong, Prebble was allowed to miss his commitments at Happy Valley on Wednesday as he soaked up his victory in Australia's biggest race. He spoke of the numerous messages from supporters, including his dentist in Hong Kong.

"It is the world's race now,'' Prebble said. "Everyone knows about it. If I hadn't won yesterday I would have been back in Hong Kong by now - like I have been the six times before when I was beaten.

"It is usually very hard to get a release from any rides because we are contracted to the [Hong Kong] Jockey Club, but they were very understanding."

Prebble said he never really had goals and aims as a young jockey because he enjoyed his early success. He paid tribute to Green Moon's co-owner Lloyd Williams as "a tough but fair man". Prebble, 35, has returned to Australia to win the Golden Slipper and Melbourne Cup and would like to add the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. "I would love to come out here and win a Cox Plate, particularly on a Hong Kong horse and I think I might be riding [a few] over there that could get the job done. I would love to come back over to ride Green Moon again because I think he can improve even more."

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